JtTLY 31, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



139 



total collection of Mollusca now numbers over 

 140,000 specimens. 



It is interesting to note that thirteen years 

 ago the main museum iloor was supplied with 

 cases which were filled with very indifferent 

 specimens, poorly installed. At the present 

 time three floors are crowded with cases, which 

 are filled with much excellent material, some 

 of which is as good as can be obtained. The 

 old strictly taxonomic system of installation 

 has been replaced by one of a more or less 

 ecological character, which is calculated to 

 educate the visitor along nature-study lines. 

 For this purpose eight large groups and forty- 

 five smaller ones have been constructed, show- 

 ing to a greater or less degree some of the in- 

 teresting habits of native animals. The taxi- 

 dermie work has all been accomplished by Mr. 

 Trahk M. Woodruff, with the rarely occasional 

 assistance of an extra taxidermist in large 

 group work. The taxidermist has also filled 

 the positions of ornithologist and photog- 

 rapher, having prepared over 2,600 slides, 

 negatives, etc., in the past seven years. The 

 minerals, rocks, fossils and physiographic col- 

 lections have been likewise arranged with the 

 educational idea in view. 



The library has shown comparatively as 

 large an increase as the museum. Beginning 

 in 1894 with 8,381 books and pamphlets, it 

 has increased in 190Y to 26,821 books and 

 pamphlets, or a growth of 18,440 in thirteen 

 and a half years. It is also noteworthy that 

 the exchange list of foreign and domestic 

 societies has grown from 120 in 1894 to 542 in 

 1907, or an increase of 422. This increase 

 has been made possible by the continued issue 

 of the publications of the Natural History 

 Survey. The gratitude of the academy is due 

 to the many foreign and domestic societies 

 who have so generously continued sending 

 their large and valuable publications when 

 those of the academy have been so few and 

 their issue so irregular. 



The satisfactory labeling and cataloguing 

 of a museum is a subject of no small magni- 

 tude and the academy was not able until the 

 year 1900 to secure the assistance and ma- 

 terial necessary for the successful carrying on 

 of this important work. At this time a print- 



ing outfit was secured and very satisfactory 

 work has been carried on by this department 

 in the eight years of its existence, during 

 which time 20,433 labels have been printed, 

 aggregating 100,000 impressions. In 1903 a 

 new set of registration books was opened, and 

 a card catalogue of the museum begun. Dur- 

 ing the four intervening years over 26,000 

 entries have been made. In comparing the 

 work of this department with that of other 

 institutions it must be remembered that it has 

 all been accomplished by one assistant, a lady, 

 whose duties in addition are to send all 

 acknowledgments, typewrite all letters and 

 manuscripts for publication, and attend to 

 other of&ce duties, besides assisting in the care 

 of the library. She also learned to do the 

 printing when that system superseded the old 

 hand-written label. 



The value of a museum of natural history 

 is oftentimes measured by the attendance, 

 although a large attendance is frequently due 

 to the advantageous location of a museum, 

 rather than to its interest for the public. It 

 is interesting to note that if classed by its 

 attendance the academy would stand well up 

 among the larger museums of the United 

 States. For a number of years the attendance 

 was accurately kept at the Academy of Sci- 

 ences, and during five years the smallest at- 

 tendance was 245,214 and the largest 413,390, 

 or an average of 338,352. It is believed that 

 more than 4,567,000 people have visited the 

 museum during the thirteen and a half years 

 of its occupancy of the building in Lincoln 

 Park. A comparison of the attendance of the 

 larger institutions with that of the academy 

 is significant: 



American Museum of Natural History, 



New York City 467,133 



U. S. National Museum and Smithsonian 



Institution, Washington 360,547 



Chicago Academy of Sciences 338,352 



Field Museum of Natural Histoiy, Chi- 

 cago 254,516 



Brooklyn Institute Museum, including 



Children's Museum 229,025 



A notable feature of the academy's work has 

 been the use of the museum and its staff in 



